


Surrender Lightly

by Sarisia (Rrrowr)



Category: Tennis no Oujisama | Prince of Tennis
Genre: Blow Jobs, M/M, past-Inui/Kaidou
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-03-08
Updated: 2006-05-17
Packaged: 2018-10-15 20:17:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,607
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10557082
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rrrowr/pseuds/Sarisia
Summary: Fuji's determined to get Kaidoh as his own.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> repost from LJ

"Ne, Kaidoh-kun..."

Hearing Fuji speak to him was a bit of a shock. When Kaidoh turned around, he was already expecting a scolding - his attitude these last few, frustrating days, perhaps, or the dirty footprints he'd brought on the courts. Neither he could've helped today. He was who he was. And the rain last night had been heavy enough to leave muddy puddles all over campus. He hadn't been the only one with messy shoes, so why...?

"Yes, Fuji-sempai?"

Fuji's eyes appraised him slightly. "I wanted to ask you a question."

How odd. Fuji, the prodigy and second best tennis player of the club, wouldn't be asking a question about tennis, but... "What is it?"

"Are you an uke or a seme?"

Kaidoh gaped. Had he been drinking anything he would have choked. His reply was almost stuttered and a blush traveled across his cheeks like wildfire. "Uke."

"Oh?" Fuji smiled at the certainty in his answer. "So sure. I thought for sure you'd be a virgin." Somehow, Kaidoh thought that Fuji-smile became more... feral? "Who's the lucky man?"

A deeper blush. Kaidoh looked away gruffly. "I don't think Inui-sempai would..." He couldn't quite finish, but he didn't bother making another attempt and embarrassing himself further with such a personal matter.

Fuji stepped toward the door, away from Kaidoh. "Inui?" Kaidoh wanted to crawl inside himself and die. Fuji's amusement was rolling off of him in waves. "That's not so surprising," Fuji said. "You fall in the most predictable ways, Kaidoh-kun."

\---

The next day Kaidoh saw Fuji and Inui talking on the courts. He was expecting to see a match between them within a few exchanges, but when he saw Inui incline his head before walking away, he knew there would be no game. Although he couldn't know for sure what Fuji and Inui had talked about, the flash of smile that Fuji had sent his way was telling. Somehow, he felt sorely disappointed that Inui had left the conversation without a fight.

"He let you go very easily," Fuji told him after tennis club. They had met in passing just beyond the courts and a few yards short of the gates. "Are you sad?"

Kaidoh frowned. "Angry. Disappointed, I guess." He shrugged, shifting the weight of his rackets and uniform against his back. He wanted to follow up with a _But not sad, Fuji-sempai. I didn't love him._ But he couldn't make the words leave his mouth.

"Then, would you be against going out with me as a rebound?" Fuji suggested.

The mamushi inclined his head in Fuji's direction. It was enough to bring them eye-to-eye. Kaidoh felt a little odd. It was the first time he'd had to do that with Fuji. He'd never noticed that he was taller than his sempai. A slow rush of air hissed out between his teeth. "That was your plan all along, wasn't it, Fuji-sempai?" he asked.

Had it been possible, Fuji would have been beaming brightly at him. As it was, Fuji merely broadened his smile. "Would that upset you?"

Hissing once more, Kaidoh leaned away and crossed his arms. "Inui-sempai tells me I'm too pushy."

"Should I take that as a yes?"

"You can if you want, Fuji-sempai," Kaidoh answered.

"Thanks for the warning then, Kaidoh-kun," Fuji purred. "I'll just have to find a way to restrain you."

\---

It was a few days before Kaidoh began to feel the repercussions of that conversation. He'd almost forgotten about it and hadn't thought to anticipate Fuji's actions. After so many months of training with and being watched by Inui, he'd barely noticed Fuji's eyes on him all afternoon. He wasn't given the chance to be wary. His defenses weren't raised a bit. Not even when he noticed Fuji standing next to him in the dressing rooms after practice.

"Did you need something, Fuji-sempai?" he asked without noticing that Fuji's eyes were open or that those eyes were traveling over his body thoughtfully.

"I was thinking of giving you a blow job," Fuji told him clearly. "Would you like me to?"

He wasn't allowed much time to answer. Fuji had him seated on the bench with his pants unzipped before he could think to make a sound of protests. By then, he was already hard and groaning as Fuji licked and suckled, drawing all sorts of embarrassing noises from Kaidoh's throat.

"F-Fuji-sempai!" Kaidoh cried - partly in surprise, partly because his legs were being pushed further apart and Fuji had taken him deeper inside. His breathing seemed to stop for a moment. "Fuji-sem-... oh, shi-! Stop, Fuji-sempai, please!"

And Fuji pulled away. Kaidoh's cock slipped from his mouth with a soft pop and Kaidoh thought that the sound made something in his brain snap. He was already bracing himself for another assault, but when Fuji stood and stroked Kaidoh's cheek with his fingers, Kaidoh was left blinking.

"You'll call me Shuusuke from now on," Fuji told him. "Can I call you Kaoru?"

What an awkward conversation! Kaidoh almost bit his lip to keep from saying just that. Instead, he nodded. "Yes, you can..." Hesitantly, "Shuusuke."

Fuji's smile was brilliant. And the kiss that lingered on Kaidoh's forehead, right on the bandanna, was sweet. Then, Fuji started to leave. Kaidoh grabbed his sempai's arm quickly.

"Where are you going?" he demanded, voice rougher and deeper than he'd intended it to be. Quickly, he lightened his tone. "You're just gonna..." here, he looked away. "You're going to leave me... just like that?" A beat. "Shuusuke?"

"You asked me to stop," Fuji explained. "It would be rude of me to force myself on you, Kaoru."

Kaidoh hissed. "You were doing that to begin with," he said. "Do you think I'd just lie there and take it?" He dropped Fuji's arm. "Fine," he growled as he yanked up his pants and tucked his erection inside. "I'll expect from now on that you'll never finish what you start, Fuji-sempai."

He had never been faster than Fuji, had never been stronger or better or more anything. Still, he hadn't resented Fuji for it. Fuji's inborn talent was something to aspire to, he thought, rather than detest. But when Fuji grabbed him and pushed him back on the bench, Kaidoh hated him for his strength. When Fuji pulled his pants down to his ankles this time and took Kaidoh's length into his mouth once more, Kaidoh hated that the anger wanted to melt away. Most of all, Kaidoh hated how easily Fuji was controlling him.

Fuji held his hips still so he couldn't move. He suckled to get Kaidoh's breathing to hitch. He hummed to evoke groans, and took Kaidoh into his mouth deeper still to draw out Kaidoh's voice: "Shuusuke... Shuusuke, more. Oh, fuck...Please!"

It took less than a minute for Kaidoh to cum in Fuji's mouth. Fuji kissed the top of his cock with a smile and gently tucked it back into Kaidoh's pants. "You were beautiful, Kaoru," Fuji told him.

Kaidoh covered his eyes, covered the blush that Fuji's intense stare was inspiring. "I think I hate you, Fuji-sempai."

Fuji's smile didn't falter. "Shuusuke," he corrected softly before saying, "I promise I'll never leave you like that again unless you want me to."

He sighed, let his hands drop and tangle in the collar of Fuji's shirt. His fingers trailed across the frail collar bone and up the tendons in Fuji's neck. "You're no good at keeping promises, I bet."

"I'll give you everything you desire." Fuji brought Kaidoh's fingers up to his lips and kissed them.

"Idiot," Kaidoh hissed at him, but it was without its usual venom. "No one says things like that."

But he was blushing still and Fuji was reaching for his face, laying kisses across the other boy's brow and nose and mouth. Weariness, Kaidoh could feel it settling into his bones. He returned a few of the kisses chastely, hesitantly.

"Okay, then," Kaidoh finally agreed. "Just this once, Shuusuke, I'll let you."


	2. Chapter 2

Kaidoh'd been assigned classroom duties. Sometimes, Fuji would sit at one of the desks and wait for him to finish before walking with him to tennis practice. They didn't talk, but Kaidoh would hiss a little when he saw Fuji slide the classroom door open and slip inside. While Kaidoh wiped the chalkboard clean, tidied the bookshelves, and fed the classroom pet (a hamster that he had to restrain from making baby-noises at, so that Fuji wouldn't laugh), Fuji would watch.

In the back of his mind, he'd always known that Fuji's gaze was intense. It came from rarely, if ever, catching Fuji's eyes open - outside of the tennis courts, of course, because they were always open during the tournament matches. But Kaidoh had never really made a note of just how intense the gaze was until it was trained on him.

It was a hot gaze that kept reminding him of... that thing... that had happened in the locker rooms. He couldn't shake off the tightness that was coiling in the center of his back because all he could think of was the way that Fuji had never closed his eyes the entire time that he'd...

"Kaoru."

Fuji was suddenly _right there_ and Kaidoh had to look away - as if that would somehow keep his sempai from knowing that he was thinking about that day, that he couldn't forget, that he still hated the way he'd submitted...

"Kaoru," Fuji said again, and this time, his hand was at the small of Kaidoh's back, where the top of his shorts was.

"Yes, Shuusuke?" The name was still a struggle to let slip from his lips. He kept wanting to add "sempai" to the end, or at least "kun" because that would be normal. But whenever he used Fuji's first name, he would smile so happily that Kaidoh couldn't add anything to the end of Fuji's name, no matter what proprieties were at stake.

"Are you free tomorrow afternoon - after practice?"

"Usually, I have extra training with Inui-sempai," here, Kaidoh felt Fuji's fingers move slightly - a twitch, maybe, a tightening, "but I can always change it to a different time." And Fuji's entire body relaxed once more, with a sigh, but Kaidoh couldn't remember when he'd started being able to read Fuji's body language. "What did you want to do?"

"Ah, ah!" Fuji chided. "You'll find out tomorrow."

.....

That afternoon, Kaidoh and Inui rested by the river after a long run. Kaidoh had already brought up the schedule change, but Inui-sempai had yet to respond.

"So," Inui began, "Fuji has already made his move. I had wondered."

Kaidoh tilted his head to the side, cocked his brow at his sempai. "What do you mean?"

"Recently, he approached me during practices-"

 _That conversation at the courts_ , Kaidoh reminded himself. _Inui-sempai hadn't noticed me watching._

"-and told me off... I think. He asked if I would like to have a friendly competition with him outside of tennis. I declined because..." Abruptly, Inui stood, slapping the dirt and grass from his pants. "Will you be dating him, then, Kaidoh?"

"Aa," Kaidoh murmured. "I guess so."

.....

At the end of practices the next day, Fuji smiled at Kaidoh when he ducked out of the locker rooms. Eiji waved at them a little from where he was still bouncing around on the courts. Further back, Inui watched the two of them walk away together.

"Do you already have something planned?" Kaidoh asked.

Fuji shrugged a little. "We could walk, in the park." He slipped a hand behind Kaidoh's head and pulled the taller youth down for a small kiss. "Talk."

When Kaidoh hissed, it was against Fuji's cheek. "Talk?" he echoed and felt Fuji's lashes brush against his skin. "About what, Shuusuke?" Fuji's smile was against his lips.

"About everything, Kaoru," Fuji replied, a bit belatedly. Blue gaze pierced through Kaidoh. "I want to know everything about you."

The sudden seriousness threw Kaidoh off - just a bit - and the feeling was reflected in the way Fuji released him from his hold, let him pull back of his own will. The blue gaze was gone, but Fuji's smile remained.

"Like a game," Fuji supplied when he'd found a pace that carried him a little ahead of Kaidoh. "A question for a question. We'll take turns. Does it sound fair?"

And it did, much to Kaidoh's discomfort. "Fair" was not the first word that came to mind when he thought of Fuji.

.....

The first questions were innocent, asked over ice cream. (What's your favorite color? Favorite food? Favorite school subject? What kind of music do you listen to? Which season do you like best? Do you think Eiji's a natural redhead?) Those kinds of questions passed quickly, with Fuji polishing off the last of his ice cream (vanilla, plain and inconspicuous, but the cone had been dipped in dark chocolate), and the questions progressed into things that could not be answered in a single word.

(Why do you treat everyone that's older than you with so much respect? Why do you always keep your eyes closed? What's your family like? ...Is this a date? Would you rather it weren't? Did you like what you did to me in the locker rooms? Didn't you? Fshuu...)

And from there...

It was Kaidoh's turn to ask the question. He made as if to ponder his question very thoughtfully, but in reality, the question had been itching at the back of his mind all day: "Why do you like me, Shuusuke?"

Fuji stilled. For a second, Kaidoh thought that time had gone still with him. Then, it all came rushing forward. "I like you... for many reasons," Fuji said. "At first, your determination and drive reminded me of my brother. Then came your voice, your blush... Your body." His voice didn't waver. Not even when... "And last week, those sounds you made." A slow, indrawn breath. "You didn't seem averse to the idea."

"Oh." Kaidoh wasn't quite blushing, but he could feel the heat beginning to travel to the surface.

Fuji's fingers laced with his, took what was left of Kaidoh's ice cream cone. "My turn. Do you like me, Kaoru?"

Time did not slow a bit for Kaidoh Kaoru, but when he glanced away from Fuji, frowning a little as his skin took on a pink hue, there was a sense of being captured. "I... could get used to the idea."

..........

Fuji walked Kaidoh all the way home, despite the other youth's protests that he could make it home from the park just fine on his own. He was tired, but not so much that he couldn't tug Kaidoh down for another kiss - this one deeper and more thoughtful than the one after school, but the resulting blush was so rewarding that he couldn't help but take another taste of those lips and feel the heat of Kaidoh's embarrassment.

"In front of my home, Shuusuke? My brother might..." Kaidoh's voice came out as a slight whine, but it occurred to Fuji that his first name was really well suited to Kaidoh's tendency to hiss.

"Aa," Fuji replied, at last feeling the weight of the day. "Tomorrow, then. I'll see you at school."

Kaidoh, drawing away and slipping into his home without a backward glance, wasn't very adept at goodbyes or good nights, but - Fuji thought as he hovered by the gates a bit longer to watch the lights flip on in an upstairs bedroom - he had enough patience for the both of them.


	3. Reason to Fall

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kaidoh and Fuji have finally gone out on a date, but what are the results of their shaky beginning? Kaidoh thinks too much, and Fuji's clueless. Once Fuji realizes there's a problem, how will he help Kaidoh? Though tennis, of course.

They'd had a date, he supposed. Sometimes Kaidoh wondered at that and tried not to reveal that he was thinking too much about their conversations and their kisses. He'd only ever seen couples go out for ice cream together, sitting and chatting and sneaking bites off the each other's snack. At school, there were a few students, who had never noticed him before, glancing and giggling at him - apparently, having seen him with Fuji - and it seemed that every time he went outside his classroom to escape it, Fuji was there - waiting for him with a smile.

Fuji was always there.

 _Do you like me, Kaoru?_ That had been the question.  
_I could get used to the idea._ That had been his answer.

But what made the answer so terrible was it's truth. He was getting accustomed to having Fuji appear at his side. At the most unexpected moments, having him appear without a sound and comment on whatever Kaidoh was doing... it didn't even surprise him anymore. At times, he felt like he could predict exactly when Fuji would show, could feel the hair on his arms rising before Fuji's presence neared - as a warning, maybe, or anticipation. If the rest of the tennis club noticed that Fuji and Kaidoh were standing together more than normal, there was no mention of it and practice continued as usual.

Kaidoh and Fuji played tennis against each other for practice. Well, practice for Kaidoh, anyway. He always lost. That was one thing he would never grow accustomed to. He didn't _like_ losing or surrendering or giving up until the last moment, but Fuji was a prodigy, after all. He had more skills than Kaidoh and more often than not, Kaidoh would end the game with the sense that Fuji had been toying with him the entire time.

It was conflicting - to grow familiar with... and fond, even... of Fuji's presence, but then to hate Fuji, suddenly and fiercely every single time, because he wouldn't take Kaidoh seriously on the courts. And it made him wonder if Fuji merely toyed with him off the courts, as well.

Kaidoh never let himself doubt his own feelings. He was honest most of all to himself. He knew that he was worried about Fuji's plan, his intentions. After everything was said and done... once Fuji had all he could get from Kaidoh...

Would Fuji leave as Inui had - without a fight or a backward glance?

.....

After their date, it began to happen. Every now and then - and often enough that Kaidoh could practically time Fuji's approach, could prepare himself for the inevitable - he was called out of art class, and Fuji would lead him by the hand to the senior boy's bathroom, where he could push Kaidoh against the wall and kiss him. They were not always passionate kisses, but Kaidoh was left breathless too many times for his liking.

Today, Fuji was soft, gentle even, but his hands were tight around Kaidoh's arms. "You played differently yesterday," he murmured. "Is something wrong?"

Kaidoh shook his head. "It's fine. I'll get over it."

Fuji's lips touched his jaw. "You're a terrible liar. Is it something I've done? Tell me."

The coercion was slow... easy. Like a gentle breeze that rocked Kaidoh forward and compelled him to bow his head. Fuji never stopped kissing him, and it became like the First Time, when he had traced the features of Kaidoh's face with his mouth and held him. The same movements... the same quiet breath that had tickled across his skin.

"I think..." Kaidoh said, _stopping short when the breeze let him fall away_.

Helpfully, Fuji went still, said, "Yes, Kaoru?"

"You've become predictable," Kaidoh murmured - _and was pushed forward again_. "But that's not the problem."

"Oh?" Fuji drew back slightly, created a paper-thin defense between them. "Then, what is?"

Kaidoh folded an arm in front of him, rubbed on the opposite arm to replace the warmth that had faded with Fuji's retreat. "What will happen after?" He could see Fuji considering his answer and hurried to continue. "You say you want everything, but once... Once you've got it, then what?"

A lingering pain rose in Kaidoh's chest. It didn't hurt, exactly, nor was it attached to sadness, but it made him want to run far, far away. It was a memory: _a tall teenager, whose eyes were hidden behind square, black frames, that had wanted everything about Kaidoh and had still, at the slightest attack, walked away..._

"Didn't I say that I'd give you all you wanted?" Fuji asked. His voice was clear, piercing through the memory with ease. "If you think you'd have to do anything more than to ask, you're wrong."

.....

They played tennis against each other that same day, after the usual practice time. The air had started to grow cooler. The ball flew between them, elegant and quick as it shot through the air, but Kaidoh wasn't pleased. For once, it wasn't because he was losing.

"Play for real, Shuusuke!" he shouted. "This isn't just a game, right?"

Kaidoh'd meant the tennis game, through and through, but something clicked in Fuji's mind and suddenly, Kaidoh was losing faster than ever. Cross shot. Straight shot. Lob. It was beginning to be difficult for him to see the tennis ball, it was moving so quick. At match point, Kaidoh knew the drop shot would come, dove for it as it crossed the top of the net... only to watch it run past his racket as he hit the ground.

Fuji leaned over the net to look at him. "It's not a game at all," he said. "So, it's okay that you've fallen, right?" After a moment, Kaidoh nodded. "I won't leave you, Kaoru. I like you and I want you to like me. Do you?"

Kaidoh said nothing as he got back on his feet and retied his bandanna, dusting off his uniform as best he could. "My answer would be part of that everything you want so much," he said. "Giving you a clear answer would be denying you the chance to find out yourself."

.....

Many people saw and made mention of what they saw the next day: Fuji, waiting at the gates with his school bag over one shoulder, and Kaidoh, approaching Fuji and getting pulled down for a kiss in front of the entire school. The resulting blush - so bright that it seemed like Kaidoh would explode - and having the other teen grab his hand to lead him off campus at a run, they were enough to make Fuji want to do it over and over again. Fuji laughed at Kaidoh's sputtering, angry, utterly embarrassed expressions and kissed him again.

"Yeah," he said, smiling at Kaidoh's resigned sigh. "You like me."


	4. Breathless

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The rumors have spread and have started causing lots of trouble for Fuji and Kaidoh. How to deal with it?

Fuji had expected the rumors. It was only natural that a public kiss on a Saturday, just as the last class let out, would cause rumors to grow and spread from person to person and school to school throughout the following weekend - especially one that was between two boys. Especially one that involved one Kaidoh Kaoru and one Fuji Shuusuke. It was a natural part of life in junior high. So, he handled the questions as easily as he could - answer some, side-stepping others and ignoring the rest.

It honestly hadn't occurred to him that Kaidoh would not be able to do the same.

So, it was only natural that - when Kaidoh showed up at the lunch table with a glowing bruise across the bottom of his jaw, his bento in one hand and an ice pack in the other - Fuji's eyes went wide. "What happened to you?" he asked.

Kaidoh scowled at a few of his classmates as they passed, pointing and chuckling. "It's nothing. I just got caught unaware this morning," he answered, but said nothing more on the matter despite Fuji's attempts to coerce him into speaking.

The laughing from others around the cafeteria were beginning to grate on Fuji's nerves after a while. It was clear to him that they knew something that he didn't. Before he could demand that Kaidoh tell him exactly what had happened, the younger boy had gathered up what remained of his lunch and left, glancing back after each time he glared and hissed at those that dared to approach him.

.....

"Did you hear? Kaidoh Kaoru - that boy from Saturday, you know-"

"Hear what? Did he get kissed again?"

"Oh, _no_. Much worse. He got punched by a _girl_ this morning. I think Sakura-sempai did it. She was so heartbroken when she found out what he and Fuji-sempai had done."

"What? No way. She didn't really punch him, did she?"

"Yes, she did! You should see the bruise. It's _enormous_."

"Hmph. Well, I guess it's no more than that Kaidoh deserves, acting like he's so cool just because Fuji-sempai kissed him."

"Watch what you're saying, Yuiko. That's cruel."

"That doesn't mean it's not true. I heard that he's refused to answer any questions about what's going on with him and Fuji-sempai. He's hogging Fuji-sempai all to himself! How do you think that makes the rest of us feel, to see Fuji go and kiss Kaidoh when we're the ones who loved him first?"

.....

After a little asking around, Fuji found Sakura sitting on the roof near the tennis courts. She had her knees drawn up to her chest and she was staring at a building near the courts. Upon closer inspection of her gaze, Fuji saw Kaidoh hitting a tennis ball against the side of the building with more severity than Fuji had seen before.

"He seems quite upset," Fuji commented and Sakura spun around. "It's my fault, I think. I should apologize."

"Fuji-sempai! No, you shouldn't!" Sakura blushed a little at her outburst. "It's not your fault at all. He's been like that since this morning."

"When you hit him?" She nodded. "Because of the kiss."

More stiffly this time, she nodded. "But he was acting so blase about it, like it was nothing. I couldn't stand it! Because I know..." She hesitated for a second, gathering her courage around her before continuing, "I know I'd feel like flying if Fuji-sempai kissed me."

Fuji said nothing at all for a while and turned, instead, to watch Kaidoh battle his frustration. "I'd like to know if I made him felt like flying," he murmured, hearing the brush of Sakura's hair as she looked sharply toward him. "Kaoru can be very stubborn. The fight is..."

He trailed off, unable to find a single world to describe what it was like to push someone who didn't like to be pushed and keep on pushing. To force confessions from a mouth that didn't like to admit to any sort of vice. To do all of that to someone that was a brute on the outside, soft on the inside, and almost his opposite... and then to want _more_.

Not only more, but everything. What word was there to describe that?

"I don't understand, Fuji-sempai," Sakura said. "Kaidoh-kun doesn't suit you at all."

"Oh? And what kind of person would suit me?"

She curled her hair around her finger, shooting him coy looks from beneath her lashes. "Someone who's pretty or cute. Who's strong enough to support you and won't lie or cheat. Someone... someone as perfect as you are, Fuji-sempai." Another blush - not half as vivid as Kaidoh's.

He tucked his hands into his pockets. "Sounds impossible... and boring." Sakura's hand fell to her side. "And Kaoru..." His breath left him briefly as he resigned himself to exposing himself in this way. "He's everything. There's no way to describe what I see in him."

It was her turn to be silent, but she didn't keep it for long. "Fuji-sempai..." she said. "You like Kaidoh-kun very much, don't you?"

"Yes. I do." It felt wonderful to say so, like a release.

She laughed a little. "Then, maybe you could help calm him down so he doesn't stay mad at me?" She glanced over, smiling helplessly at him. "The rumors, you know..."

He nodded. "Yeah. Rumors can cause lots of trouble."

.....

Fuji liked to watch Kaidoh. There was something about long arms and long legs that he knew could wrap around him without ever letting go that made his blood pump that much faster when Kaidoh was near. The younger of the two moved deliberately, always with a smoothness that he couldn't invoke in his personality, which was gruff and unrefined and so frankly honest but undeniably adorable at the most obscure moments.

"I heard you got hit by a girl, Kaoru-chan," Fuji called when he felt it was time to announce his presence.

Moments like these, when Kaidoh was as angry as he was embarrassed and wanting to glare as much as he wanted to run and hide, Kaidoh was at his cutest.

Kaidoh hissed loudly. "She hit me with a textbook!" he argued, touching the bruise gingerly with his fingertips. "It doesn't hurt much anymore, but... Tch! Really annoying."

Reaching up, Fuji pulled Kaidoh closer and touched the bruise with his lips, mouthing the injury at first, then scraping his teeth against it. Kaidoh inhaled sharply at the pain, but didn't move away. "Wait, Shuusuke." He grabbed Fuji's arms. "What if someone sees again? This is your fault, you know."

Ignoring the questions, Fuji asked his own, "One of the girls today told me that she'd feel like flying if I ever kissed her. What do you think?"

"Idiot. Only girls think of sappy things like that," hissed Kaidoh. "I'm not a girl."

"But what do you think of my kisses?" Fuji insisted. "Do you like them?"

When Kaidoh looked up, backing away, Fuji could still see the red tint of his cheeks that he was trying to hide. He was about to pull Kaidoh back to him again, force them to look at each other, when the other boy sighed.

"You'll just pester me until I say it," Kaidoh said.

Already, Fuji was smiling again.

Kaidoh was the one pulling on Fuji this time, wrapping his hand around Fuji's smaller, frailer wrist and tugging so that they were chest-to-chest. "You're a pain, Shuusuke," he murmured. "As for your kisses..."

It was a soft kiss - light and teasing - and their lips hovered close. Their breath was shared for one, too-short moment. It occurred to Fuji - now, as it had every time they'd kissed - that Kaidoh had very kissable lips, just full enough and not at all sloppy or uncomfortable. Kaidoh kissed him over and over - small, chaste kisses that drove him to frustration.

"Kaoru..." _More_ , Fuji wanted to say, but disliked begging for himself. Still, _I want more!_

At the sound of the want in his voice, however, Kaidoh still smirked. "Like that," he said. "Exactly like that."

.....

The rest of the day went smoothly. Kaidoh was no longer assaulted by questions, though many still cast him furtive glances as he passed. He ignored them. As for Fuji, he wandered through his classes in a sweet daze; he couldn't stop smiling, not even when he saw Inui approaching him between classes.

"I hear that you and Kaidoh are officially a couple," Inui said without preamble.

 _Is that what the rumors are saying now?_ "Did you really?" Fuji asked. He was glowing at the news. He knew he was. "And? What of it?"

Inui pushed up his glasses and settled a hand on Fuji's shoulder as he passed. "You may have intimidated me before," he said, "but don't start thinking that I'm going to let it go on without a fight."

.........................

Eyaa... the next chapter's getting long. Yes, it's getting longer than I anticipated. And that plot that my muses agreed on? It's in the next chapter too. Let's just forget that I should be doing my maths.


	5. Parallel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It seems like everything is going well for Fuji and Kaidoh, but when Inui starts paying undue attention to Kaidoh, Fuji's jealousy rears its head.

It took him ten school days before Kaidoh was able to see it, clearly and without it being pointed out to him. By then, it - being the sudden (to him) and obvious (to everyone else) rivalry between Fuji and Inui - had dissolved into something akin to "see, pause, attack and retreat once Kaidoh notices." Kaidoh wasn't sure if it was fortunate or not that their battle of wits and coercion was so intense that they couldn't tell when he'd finally noticed.

It didn't help in the least that the other members of the tennis club started having lunch with the three of them, just for entertainment's sake. Kikumaru, Echizen, and Momoshiro were the worst - agreeing to situations or suggestions for Kaidoh when he'd no intention of doing so, egging the two rivals into more argumentative conversation, and smiling in a decidedly menacing way whenever Kaidoh shouted at them to mind their own business.

Inui sat to Kaidoh's left. He easily dwarfed the younger player's height, even when sitting. He put a hand on Kaidoh's shoulder and leaned unnecessarily close. "Kaidoh-kun, would you like to -"

Inui didn't get a chance to finish his question.

Fuji, sitting to Kaidoh's right, neatly split a roll in two. His eyes were focused firmly on his lunch. As much as he might have considered Inui his rival, he wasn't going to let his year mate let him know it by actually looking at him.

"No," Fuji cut in. "He would not."

"You don't even know what I'm asking yet. It could very well be something he likes. Right, Kaidoh-kun?"

Fuji frowned. "If there's something he likes," he said. Then, pointedly, " _Likes and wants_ \- then I will be the one to give it to him."

Kaidoh let out a slow hiss and blocked out the conversation that snapped around his head. It was clear to him _what_ was happening. The way they fought over him, trying to claim as much of his time as they could, made it apparent. The reasoning behind it, however, was an entirely different matter. Inui, who'd had him once before, and Fuji, who had him now, probably wouldn't like giving him answers, even if he asked why.

Fortunately, Kaidoh wasn't the only one who disliked the fighting. Tezuka, too, made mention of it, briefly and with a sigh that surprised Kaidoh.

"This is no good," Tezuka said, eyes on where Fuji and Inui were fiercely volleying in a far court. "It needs to be fixed." This was said directly to Kaidoh.

He nodded. "I'm trying to figure it out."

And that seemed to satisfy Tezuka.

.....

So, when Fuji walked him home that afternoon - a routine that had been developed in the past week, during which Fuji seemed constantly on the lookout for trouble - Kaidoh decided to say something.

"You're getting jealous over nothing, Shuusuke," he said, as gently as possible.

"What are you talking about?" Fuji asked, smiling.

"Your fight with Inui-sempai," Kaidoh prompted.

Fuji sniffed, walked a bit faster to keep ahead. "My fight with Inui has nothing to do with you. Don't worry about it."

"Oh." Kaidoh smiled indulgently. "Then, it'll be alright if I practice with him at school tomorrow."

Fuji whirled. "But I'm the one you practice with!"

 _Am I really?_ demanded the part of Kaidoh's mind that was petulant and childlike. "I'll practice with you then," he said and caught up with Fuji in time to see the older boy smile a bit. His offer, at least, seemed to have placated Fuji. "Inui's not interested in me."

Fuji shook his head. "Of course, he is."

"He's not," Kaidoh insisted. "I'd know."

Fussing with the sleeves of his uniform in a way that was almost endearing, Fuji frowned his disagreement. "Right." He glanced away. "Because you've been with him before."

He hated to say it. "Exactly."

"Maybe he just wasn't serious before."

The words landed where they were meant to, and Kaidoh was thrown off balance by Fuji's offhand remark. He relented. Kaidoh'd been pushing before, but it had taken less than ten words for Fuji to make his point and take his easy win.

And it had been easy. Kaidoh had no doubt of that. Fuji hadn't needed to lay out proof of the possibility, merely suggest the idea that what Inui and Kaidoh had done had not been sincere.

Easy.

A breeze itched at Kaidoh's eyes. He blinked and looked away from Fuji's face. "Aa," he agreed. "You might be right."

Fuji tried to soothe him. "I'm sorry."

Kaidoh nodded, tried to accept it, but ended up hissing out exactly what he was thinking: "Don't say what you don't mean."

.....

And that night, no matter how he tried to convince himself that the thought didn't bother him, the doubt nagged at him.

.....

It occurred to Kaidoh, as Inui caught him on the way to school the next morning, that the similarities between Inui and Fuji were startling. Between Inui, who used his glasses to hide his intentions, and Fuji, who used his gentle laughter and smiles to do the same, there was little Kaidoh could find different. The same determination. The same stubborn desire to become and maintain the title of _The Best_.

And while Inui slid his palm across the width of Kaidoh's shoulders as soon as Fuji came into view, Kaidoh wondered if he liked in both of them the things that Kaidoh could not find in himself: the ability to hide emotions behind some sort of barrier. All too often, Kaidoh'd had his secrets spilled by some unconscious reaction - a blush, perhaps, or a hiss of irritation. He found it admirable that Inui and Fuji could protect themselves without effort.

But at least, Fuji could withstand what little effort it took to make his intentions clear.  
Even so, in the same way he had learned to find Inui's intentions behind his reflection in Inui's glasses, Kaidoh was only just beginning to see past Fuji's laughter and smiles to see the truth. He couldn't just leave behind what little progress he'd made just because he doubted Inui's lack of interest.

"You must be cold, Kaidoh-kun," Inui murmured. "Autumn's almost here."

"I'm fine," Kaidoh replied. He resisted the pull of Inui's arm around his shoulders. Any second now, Fuji would look up and assume the worst. "Would you please stop playing these games, sempai?"

"Games?" Inui echoed, and relief filtered through Kaidoh when Inui's arm dropped away. "Kaidoh, I am being serious."

Kaidoh put some space between them. Safe distance. Enough distance that he could look up at Inui's earnest face. All at once, whatever honesty that Kaidoh could find in Inui didn't matter. Whether Inui had been serious then, or was serious now, didn't matter.

"I know that before..." Inui sighed. "I must seem different now, but please, understand, Kaidoh. I've only just realized." He reached out and touched the side of Kaidoh's face.

Inui was still talking, brushing his fingers against Kaidoh's cheek. "Kaidoh, Surely, you wouldn't deny me-"

"I'm staying with Fuji."

Just like that, Inui's hand fell back to his side. "Oh, I see." He pushed up his glasses. "There's nothing I can do?"

Kaidoh flushed pink and smiled softly. "Nothing at all," he agreed.

Inui laid his hand on Kaidoh's head, smoothed the spiky hair. "That's good." He pushed Kaidoh toward the gates. "I'll see you at practice, Kaidoh." And was gone.

.....

"I saw you with Inui," was the first thing Fuji said when Kaidoh came up beside him. He smiled gently. "We'll stay friends, of course."

"Shuusuke-"

"And we'd still practice together."

"Yes, but..."

"I'd still see you everyday."

Kaidoh covered Fuji's mouth with his palm. "You're being an idiot."

He could feel Fuji's frown form beneath his fingers before they were pulled away. "I'm trying to be realistic here, Kao-" He blinked, quickly. "Kaidoh."

"Realistic?" Kaidoh hissed. "Monopolize me, then. I didn't decide to stay with you for nothing." He blushed vividly as he grabbed Fuji's hand and brought his knuckles to his lips. "Shuusuke, you'll have to take full responsibility."

It took a moment to sink in, but then Fuji smiled - so brilliantly that Kaidoh didn't hold back from returning the grin. Fuji laughed before cradling Kaidoh's face between his hands and kissing him.

"You really _are_ pushy!"


End file.
